Doomy Dooms of Doom
by ZeroBelial
Summary: Once again, the city of Neverwinter is plunged head-first into chaos by an unlikely band of friends: a snarky anti-hero, a dwarf exiled for being too 'dwarfy', a squishy wizard, a hippy, a kleptomaniac, a pyromaniac, the resident Obi-Wan, the psychotic warlock, and the bard. We don't like Elanee so much, but we mustn't forget the bard. DOOM! T for now.


**Well, I've been working on this story for a year now, going on and off. It's the OC of Neverwinter Nights 2, but from Bishop's perspective and Zero's perspective too. The story begins just before act II, so if you haven't played it, there's gonna be some major spoilers. You have been warned. I'm not wasting time introducing characters, you should know who they are. :P - Mattycchi**

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Bishop rocked back in the chair until it was resting on two legs, the wood making a dull groan as he moved. He had been like that for the past hour, wasting time until something interesting happened. Despite the inn being located in the Neverwinter Docks district – the seedier underworld of the grand city – there was precious little that entertained him.

The tavern's owner, a half-elf named Duncan, had begun to twitch each time the ranger rocked back in his chair, the wooden noise making the other man's ears flick in annoyance. A smirk crept onto his lips as he leaned back again.

Even his wolf companion was beginning to tire of the noise, and he felt more than saw Karnwyr get to his feet and walk out to the back room. The inn had plenty of rooms, yet Duncan would only allow him to stay in the dusty old room, where no one ever ventured. Kind man that he was, he had given Bishop free access to the kegs. As another groan split the air and the innkeeper turned to yell at him, the tavern door swung open.

The ranger sighed and took a mouthful of ale, gazing at the newcomers over the rim of his tankard. A young woman stood there, her silver hair short and messy, her arm around the other woman's shoulders. The dwarf and the paladin moved away from them, assured that they were now safe. His eyes hooded, the man watched the encounter.

The innkeeper turned around to look at them, Bishop forgotten already. "Well, now, I see you've brought someone new to my establishment. Now who is this young lady?"

"This is Shandra – Shandra, Duncan. Duncan, Shandra." The silver-haired woman waved a hand at him. The ranger idly recalled that she was Duncan's niece, called Zero.

"Please, lass, come in, come in. Make yourself at home. This here is the Sunken Flagon, I own it – you'll be safe here." he said warmly, glancing sideways at the gnome by the fireplace. "Grobnar, play a tune or something, make the lady feel welcome."

Grobnar nodded eagerly and took a step forward. "Why, of course, I was just th-"

"Look we don't need a lecture on what passes through your head and out your mouth. Just _play_." Duncan snapped, voicing Bishop's feelings. The gnome always had something to say, and more often than not, it was long winded and had little to do with the current situation. Luckily for the ranger – and perhaps the gnome – he had kept his distance from all of the companions.

His interest had faded after they had become a permanent part of the scenery. Their leader, the woman, had picked up each companion on her way to find silver shards. He wasn't sure of the point of it all, but he also didn't care.

Shandra glanced over at Zero awkwardly. "Well, the innkeeper certainly runs hot and cold." she remarked.

"Well, judging by his tone and that look in his eye, I'd stay out of arm's reach." Zero chuckled lightly before promising to keep her safe.

As the conversation wore on, Bishop began to tune out. Even if he didn't pay attention, he knew he could find out by getting Duncan drunk and pestering him for answers.

A few hours later, each of the companions began to move to their personal rooms. Bishop let out a soft sigh and made his way to his own room, not bothering to take his leather armor off. He leaned back in the makeshift nest he had made of blankets and pillows and kicked off his boots, setting his bow beside the blankets.

He woke suddenly at the sounds of frantic shouting, the innkeeper bashing loudly on the door before moving away.

"Alarm! Alarm!" even at this distance, he could hear Duncan running down the corridor, shouting out. "Everyone, get out of bed and grab a weapon. The Flagon's under attack!" he yelled.

The ranger swore under his breath and leapt up off the bed, quickly slipping on his boots and grabbing his bow before stalking out into the hallway. Two githyanki were attacking Duncan, his fists no match for their swords.

Without warning, Bishop fired two arrows straight into the chest of one of the gith before shooting another into the skull of the other githyanki. Karnwyr darted past the fallen enemies, tackling a githyanki cleric to the floor and tearing out his throat.

Duncan nodded to the ranger in thanks. Bishop snorted in wry amusement and shot down another gith attacker as it tried to run into the main room. He sensed Karnwyr nearby, bounding after a terrified gith.

The hunter slipped past the flailing dwarf and took a shot at one of the githyanki wildly attacking the silver-haired girl, the arrow embedding itself between the creature's eyes. She smiled at him crookedly and he found himself staring for a moment longer than he should have.

A growl sounded from behind him and he spun to face the three gith that had crept up behind him while his attention was focused on Zero. He swore and lifted the bow up again, shooting at one of his attackers.

The female githyanki snarled and leapt to the side, the arrow barely catching her shoulder – and certainly not enough to slow her. The odds weren't in his favor, but most of the fights he'd been in had been like this; one man against four, sometimes even five or six other men. It didn't worry him too much, as he had faith in his own abilities as well as his wolf companion, but he didn't ignore the odds completely. It was a game of luck as well as skill, and it would certainly be his time soon enough.

Another gith slammed the butt of his sword into the ranger's back and he dropped to his knees, lifting his head up. All of a sudden, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion; the dwarf and tiefling were standing back to back, mercilessly slaughtering their attackers. The "tree-worshipper", as the tiefling called her, was currently in the shape of a bear, clawing at her enemies and tearing them apart. The gnome was standing on a table, singing frantically and swatting at a summoned badger with his lute in between calling to the paladin for help.

All in all, it was an amusing situation, and would have made the ranger chuckle if he wasn't about to have his head severed from his shoulders. The gith in front of him raised his sword and angled it to the side… but paused, his eyes widening as he glanced down at the twin silver blades protruding through his chest.

He crumpled to the ground as the remaining gith spun to attack the silver haired woman, her enchanted shortswords dripping with githyanki blood. She let out a wicked laugh and began to attack them, killing them both within seconds.

Zero held her hand out to the fallen ranger and smiled at him again, her hands and face spattered with blood. He smirked and took her hand as he stood up, raising his bow and loosing an arrow into the chest of the badger that now had the gnome's leg in its mouth.

"Has it been that long since you've seen a real woman?" she smirked back at him, swapping her shortswords for her own bow as they darted behind a few kegs. Now that he looked at her properly, he could see that she was still in her armor. She hadn't even gotten undressed when the githyanki attacked.

"Keep quiet! If you alert the enemy, I swear I'll use you as a shield." he hissed, glaring at the young woman. He didn't think she'd noticed his look, but it was safer for her if she stayed away from him. Not that she lived a safe life from the way she promptly killed the gith.

Duncan looked up at them once all the githyanki attackers were dead, panting softly. A bruise was already forming on his cheek where he had accidentally been hit with Grobnar's lute. "That lass, Shandra, has been taken? How in the hells did those githyanki get into the city?" he grimaced in discomfort, rubbing his cheek.

The ranger shrugged and crouched down next to the corpse of a githyanki. "Does that matter? You'd best hurry if you want to get her back." he said, sounding almost bored as he inspected the corpse.** "**Look, this one has a sprig of Duskwood trapped in his boot. That means they came from deep within Luskan territory... and that's where they'd be returning to." he mused, studying the gith.

"Luskan... that's your territory, Bishop." the innkeeper said slowly.

"Yes, but it's not my problem. I'm not going into Luskan territory for some farm girl, and certainly not with any kin of yours, Duncan." Bishop straightened up and narrowed his eyes at the half elf, his anger rising up.

Zero laughed and sauntered up to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders despite the blood that covered them both. "Come on, a little jaunt into Luskan, we'll have fun whether we find Shandra or not." she teased.

"Is your whole family deaf, Duncan? Like I said, _not my problem_." he growled, pushing her off.

"You'll help them, Bishop, whether you like it or not." he retorted.

Bishop glared at him again. "And what makes you th..." he fell silent at Duncan's stare, his fingers tightening around his bow. "Calling it due, are you, Duncan? Are you sure?" he walked over to him, drawing the bow slightly.

"A woman's life is at stake, Bishop. If that's what it takes to move you to do the right thing, then so be it." he said calmly. His eyes flicked over to Zero for a moment, worry clear in his gaze.

"Fine, it'll be worth it to be rid of you – and for such a small price, too. You're a fool, Duncan."

Bishop turned to face the others, his expression hard and cold. "All right, pack your bags and grab your weapons. We're bound for the Luskan border. Follow my lead and don't try to be clever. If the Luskans catch us, they'll use us for target practice." he ordered.

Zero sighed softly and gestured towards the paladin and the dwarf. "We leave at dawn." she murmured. All her energy had been drained in the fight, and now she was so tired she was almost swaying from exhaustion as she turned to walk out.

The paladin, Casavir, frowned and darted forward when she stumbled a little on her way into the hall. "Careful..." he said softly, his eyes softening a little. "Neeshka? Would you mind readying a bath for our leader?" he glanced towards the tiefling.

The girl blinked and looked at him with wide eyes. "Why... Sure." she got up and scampered over to Sal, asking him to heat up some water for her.

Bishop watched silently as the paladin half-carried the silver-haired aasimar out to her room. A small giggle distracted him for a moment and he turned to look at the tiefling, her tail swishing back and forth in the air.

"I saw you." she mouthed to him, winking before grabbing the buckets of water and darting out after the aasimar.

He sighed and finally lowered his bow, muttering a few choice words about Duncan and his family as he made his way back to his room. The wolf had followed him in, but he ignored him as he set the bow next to his bedroll and began to unlace his bracers. Karnwyr would wake him just before dawn, so he figured he might as well get some sleep before then.

Once all of his armor was off, he moved towards the bucket of water and grabbed the cloth hanging over the side. Some blood had soaked through his armor, and while it usually didn't bother him while he was out on a hunt, it bothered him when he woke in the morning to find dried blood all over himself and his clothes.

After washing the blood and grime off his skin, he stood up and tugged his shirt back on before pausing for a moment. He tilted his head to the side, listening to the silence of the tavern for a few minutes. "Huh..." he frowned, but shifted the bedroll slightly and lay down on the worn material, turning onto his side.

Karnwyr looked at the ranger as he made himself comfortable and walked towards the lantern, letting out a heavy breath to blow out the flame. The wolf hummed happily and turned around, walking back and curling up next to the hunter.

Two pairs of golden brown eyes drifted closed, oblivious to the rest of the world as they descended into dreams.


End file.
